Mišo Kovač


Mate "Mišo" Kovač is a Croatian country-pop, pop-folk and schlager singer. He is the best selling artist from Croatia and former Yugoslavia, with well over 20 million records, cassettes and compact discs sold to date and is often regarded as one of the most popular musical performers from Southeast Europe.

Early life

Mate Kovač, better known as Mišo Kovač, was born to Zrinka and Jakov Kovač on 16 July 1941, in Šibenik. He had a sister named Blanka and a brother named Ratko. During his youth, Kovač lived in the same street in Šibenik as musicians Vice Vukov and Arsen Dedić. He made the HNK Šibenik junior team as a goalkeeper, but he barracked for Hajduk Split and often travelled by boat from Šibenik to Split on game day just to see them play. His earliest goals in life were to eventually represent Hajduk Split, but that all changed at the age of 16 when he heard Ljubo Lučev sing and then devoted himself entirely to music.

Music career

His early musical influences were Italian artists Luciano Tajoli, Tony Dellaga and Adriano Celentano, as well as American singers Johnnie Ray, Elvis Presley and later Willie Nelson. In 1961 he shared equal first place with Mirko Vukšić, future guitarist with Croatian group Mi, in a talent contest called Prvi glas Šibenika, where he covered an Elvis Presley hit.
He then served in the Yugoslav Army, being stationed at Belgrade, where he sang every Saturday night to his fellow conscripts and friends. After military service, he went to live in Zagreb, hoping to develop his career. His first big break came in 1964 at a talent contest in Karlovac, where he was noticed by leading music producers after singing "Ne mogu prestat' da te volim", which also became his first recording soon after.
In very short time four of his singles/EP's were certified Silver - they included: "Ja odlazim", "Vrijeme plakanja", San Francisko and "Da je duži moj dan".
His first huge hit came in 1969 with the song "Više se nećeš vratiti", written by Đorđe Novković and selling well over 400,000 copies, as well as a Gold disc award for "Čemu da živim", and in 1970 he earned another Silver disc award with "Serenada".
In 1971 he won his first prestigious Split Festival with the song "Proplakat će zora", which went on to sell well over half a million copies and could be the best selling single ever in former Yugoslavia. Kovač donated all his earnings from the song to building a new highway from Zagreb to Split. He also gained two other Silver disc awards in 1971 with the hits "Mornaru za sretan put" and "Za mene sreće nema". He also released his first album in 1971, self-titled, and it eventually earned him a Platinum award for sales of well over 200,000 copies.
He nearly died in a car accident near Zadar in 1971 when his car was completely destroyed and as a result he had a scar above his upper lip. During his recovery, Kovač decided to let his moustache grow to hide his scar, and the moustache later became his trademark.
In 1972 Kovač went to see one of his idols, Elvis Presley, perform live at New York's Madison Square Garden, and the King's rendition of Frank Sinatra hit "My Way" left a lasting impression on him. In the same year back at home, he was awarded another Gold disc award with "Zalij to cvijeće suzama sreće".
Another Gold Disc award came in 1974 with the hit "Drugi joj raspliće kosu, a ja je volim". The following year he recorded "Ostala si uvijek ista", which Kovač later claimed was his personal best recording of his career. That song was re-issued ten years later on an album with the same title which sold well over 400,000 copies.
Further gold discs followed, with "Noćas ćemo zemlji k'o materi reći" in 1977, "Dobra ti večer, mati moja" in 1980, "Dalmacija u mom oku" in 1982 which is still seen as a semi-official anthem of Dalmatia, although it did not even make the national charts when first released but a live version hit #2 in 1988, and "Šibenske kale" in 1982. Then, between 1985–88 he issued some of his biggest hits and well known songs like, "Ako me ostaviš", "Jedan dan života", "Sutra me sude", "Odavno više ne plačem zbog tebe", "Ja nemam više razloga da živim", "Ti si pjesma moje duše", "Svi pjevaju, ja ne čujem" and many others.
Four of his albums released in the 1980s earned Platinum awards with sales of over 200,000, with "Dalmacija u mom oku" in 1982, "Zajedno smo" in 1984, "Malo mi je jedan život" in 1987 and "Mišo! Koncert", recorded live in 1988.
In the next two decades, Kovač won many prestigious festival awards, topped music charts and sold well over 20 million records during his long and successful career.

Personal life

Kovač divorced his first wife Ljubica Komadina after four years of marriage, and in 1973 he married former Miss Teen Yugoslavia of 1970, Anita Baturina, with whom he had two children, a son Eduard "Edi" Kovač, and a daughter Ivana, also a renowned singer in her own right.
His life and career turned sour with the outbreak of war in Croatia and his first appearance on Croatian Radiotelevision after the collapse of Yugoslavia occurred in 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence when Kovač showed his reluctant patriotism with a song inspired by attacks from the Krajina Serbs and JNA on his native Šibenik, "Grobovi im nikad oprostiti neće".
At the same time, Kovač's son, Edi, joined the special unit of Croatian Army called Škorpioni and in 1992 he was fatally shot in Zagreb in controversial circumstances, with his death being officially declared as an accident. Mišo was deeply affected by the tragedy and refused to believe the official reason for his son's death. He claimed that his son was murdered and his quest to find his son's killers got him involved with the Croatian Party of Rights. He began to support the party and appear at their rallies, dressing in the black uniform of the Croatian Defence Forces, the party's militia. He also changed his professional name from Mišo to Mate.
The death of his son had a devastating effect on his personal life and marriage, and in 1996 he divorced Anita Baturina, followed by years of alcohol abuse and severe depression caused him to try and commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest in 1999. After fully recovering and returning to the music scene, he married Lidija Pintarić. Kovač often spoke about his loyalty and gratitude to Lydia and the importance of their relationship and marriage she had towards his recovery.
He is also been quoted as saying that he still only needs "a carton of tobacco, 5 coffees, half a pizza and one coca-cola drink to survive each day", which he made when the media in Croatia issued reports that all the money he earned during his fame has been spent on the many women he loved in his life and that he was penniless.
In 2012, Croatian Music Institute presented Mišo Kovač with the 'Porin za životno djelo', and he still enjoys the reputation and fame of a musical legend and has many loyal fans all over the former Yugoslavia.
In 2016 he released a new haunting single, "Takav sam rođen", which can be viewed as a wonderful tribute to his own life, and in the same year his 1987 hit "Poljubi zemlju" was played on the Mars Rover Curiosity, and for the first time ever a Croatian song was played on another planet.
At the 2019 Humanitarian Concert in honor of Croatian music called "To je moja zemlja", which was held at Stadion Poljud in Split, a special award was presented to Kovač for being the most popular performer of all-time. His daughter Ivana proudly accepted the award on his behalf.

Awards

After winning the 1980 Split Festival, Mišo Kovač declared he wouldn't appear in any other song festivals from now on. He won the festival five times, more than any other artist in the former Yugoslavia at the time, and three of those songs that won also topped the nationwide music charts in Yugoslavia.
1969 - Bez tebe nisam sretan - written by Ivica Krajač and Alfi Kabiljo
1970 - Serenada - written by Vinko Lesić
1971 - Proplakat će zora - written by Dragutin Britvić and Stjepan Mihaljinec: 1st place
1972 - Odvest ću te na vjenčanje - written by Stjepan Mihaljinec
1973 - Bijela lađa - written by Tomislav Zuppa and Zdenko Runjić
1974 - Obala mojih snova - written by Đorđe Novković and Dušan Šarac
1975 - Ja ne mogu drugo nego da te ljubim - written by Drago Britvić: 1st place
1976 - did not enter
1977 - Noćas ćemo zemlji k'o materi reći - written by Dragutin Britvić and Stjepan Mihaljinec: 1st place
1978 - Šuti srce, mogli bi te čuti - written by Dragutin Britvić
1979 - Ne tuguj, Dalmacijo - written by Gordan Franić and Teo Trumbić: 1st place
1980 - Dobra ti večer, mati moja - written by Krsto Juras and Dušan Šarac: 1st place